“Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is… Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me amplified.” Determining sanity wasn't always prominent; the studies of mental health and psychology have improved greatly since the late 1960’s, but some could argue that there are still many disorders we do not understand. This movie envelopes the problems and treatment of patients during this era. Not only in a time of economic and racial disturbance, but the stereotypes and inequality for women are exemplified during this motion picture. During this award-winning film, we meet Suzanna Kaysen; a girl right out of high school with severe depression. Viewers discover that she downed a whole bottle of Aspirin chased by a bottle …show more content…
We learn in the movie that Suzanna is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. One of the symptoms includes compulsive promiscuity. Tobey is brought in the beginning of the story as one of the men she had sex with. They barely knew each other and not much was discussed between the two characters, but they had a brief conversation about the war. Tobey says how the world is so mismanaged that “If some draft zombie pulls [his] name out of a barrel, [he’s] going to die”; Suzanna asks him when his birthday is, and he replies “December 30th”. In accordance to this conversation, while in the hospital, Suzanna had seen his Birthdate called on the television; to be drafted. In the following week, he show’s up expecting her to leave with him for Canada. Suzanna is reluctant, she believes she is getting better and she is starting to enjoy the company of the other patients. Anxious to leave, Tobey thinks he can convince Suzanna to retreat by minimizing her situation. He tells her that she is not like the others, that she is not crazy. His persistence brings Suzanna to openly admit her attempted suicide for the first time. This scene shows that women are independent, and don’t need to look to a man for guidance. Suzanna speaks up and chooses to do what’s right for her mental health rather than run and avoid her problems like Tobey seems to be doing. Correspondingly, Suzanna is demonstrating what strength is; …show more content…
The insight of Suzanna portrays what it was like to be a woman with a mental illness in the late 1960’s. Furthermore, many were quickly written off because, in that decade, women were thought to be just plain mental. On the other hand, the world is always evolving. A quote from the real Suzanna Kaysen helps remind the human population of this progression; “It’s a long way from not having enough serotonin to thinking the world is ‘stale, flat and unprofitable”. Additionally, today’s findings help to understand that approaches back then were severely outdated and caused more harm than good in most cases. In light of identity, women have come a long way since the 1960’s and are quickly becoming equals in the eyes of society. It is now known that more time and effort is needed in the world of psychology, and with all the technological advances being made throughout time we will only be making improvements in the
During the mid-1900`s, mental illnesses were rarely discussed in mainstream media due to negative stigma surrounding mental illnesses. As a result, characters in film rarely had mental disorders because of the directors` worries of audiences` reactions to how the illnesses were portrayed. Director, Edward Dmytryk, however, attempted to diminish the stigma through his film Raintree County (1957) with Susanna Drake Shawnessy`s mental instability. Elizabeth Taylor`s portrayal of Susanna, however, heightened the stigma surrounding mental illness as Susanna constantly acted immature and childlike.
In 1978, Susan Sheehan took an interest in Sylvia Frumkin, a schizophrenic who spent most of her life in and out of mental hospitals. For more than two years, Sheehan followed Sylvia around, observing when Sylvia talked to herself, sitting in on sessions with Sylvia’s doctors, and at times, sleeping in the same bed as Sylvia during her stay at the psychiatric centers. Through Sheehan’s intensive report on Sylvia’s life, readers are able to obtain useful information on what it’s like to live with this disorder, how impairing it can be for them, and the symptoms and causes to look out for; likewise, readers can get an inside look of how some mental hospitals are run and how a misdiagnosis can negatively impact someone’s life.
Madness: A History, a film by the Films Media Group, is the final installment of a five part series, Kill or Cure: A History of Medical Treatment. It presents a history of the medical science community and it’s relationship with those who suffer from mental illness. The program uses original manuscripts, photos, testimonials, and video footage from medical archives, detailing the historical progression of doctors and scientists’ understanding and treatment of mental illness. The film compares and contrasts the techniques utilized today, with the methods of the past. The film offers an often grim and disturbing recounting of the road we’ve taken from madness to illness.
She was taken to the hospital after she tried to commit suicide, she took a bottle of aspirin. Her reason for taking the full bottle of aspirin was a major headache, which was also alarming to the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist recommended that she be admitted to a mental hospital for women, where she can rest and recover. Another sign of the Borderline Personality Disorder is casual sexuality.
The two texts emphasized in this essay include Elyn R. Saks’ The Center Cannot Hold : My Journey Through Madness and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces. “There were many days when I believed I was nothing more than the Lady of Charts - a crazy woman who’d faked her way into a teaching job and would soon be discovered for what she really was and put where she really belonged - in a mental hospital” (Saks 263). Saks entire life was a struggle because of the mental illness she had since a young age, schizophrenia. Most of her younger years were lived being misunderstood by her parents and peers alike. She turned to options like substance abuse and self harm to cope with her deteriorating situation in life. There came a point where she realized that she was better than her illness and was able to overcome it with the help and guidance of a few mentors. Now, Saks is a very successful assistant dean, as well as a professor of law, psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School. Saks also went on to receive the award for MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and write her book. Joseph Campbell was also very successful in the same way because he wrote a book that is very complex and still relevant in this day and age. Campbell made the mold and Saks’ life fits it
Tasca, Cecilia. "Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health."National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a very common personality disorder that is often confused with Bipolar disorder. Unlike Bipolar disorder which is when a person’s mood changes from depression to manic, borderline personality disorder is when a person suffers from unstable emotions, behavior and relationships with others and themselves. Individuals who suffer from severe BPD often have manic/ psychotic encounters. This disorder is very common in young adults, especially in women of every race and ethnicity. BPD was first added to the addition of DSM-III in 1980. Borderline Personality disorder can be linked to many other disorders such as depression, eating disorders, bipolar depression, schizophrenia and/or attempted or completed suicides. According to National Institute of Mental Health: about 85 percent of people with BPD also meet the diagnostic criteria for another mental illness. Medical Professionals take interest in this disorder because it is deep rooted and irregular unlike many other disorders. 1 in every 25 individual’s live with this disorder
Borderline personality disorder "is defined in the DSM IV, a manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose all mental disorders, as an AXIS II disorder which has symptoms of impulsively and emotional dysregulation" (Livesley 146). A person with BPD has feelings of abandonment and emptiness, and has "frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, going to extremes to keep someone from leaving" (Burger 300). He or she is emotionally unstable and forms intense but unstable interpersonal relationships. They show impulsive behavior, such as spending money, sex, eating and substance abuse. Borderlines engage in self-manipulating behaviors and recurrent suicide attempts and thoughts. "Their behavior can be seen as maladaptive methods of coping with constant emotional pain" (Livesley 144).
Within the time of its existence, part of television's purpose has been to craft stories in which a connection to reality isn’t the main goal. Miriam Markowitz’s “Madness in the Method” delves into this idea by analyzing the fanciful portrayal of mental illness on-screen. In her article, Markowitz finds fault in this and suggests that such depictions perpetuate the stigma of mental illness and further complicate the lives of its sufferers.
The sheer number of portrayals of mental illness in fictional films, television programs and, in this case, literature is substantial and has been primarily responsible for perpetuating certain myths and stereotypes about mental illness. In most cases, people who are portrayed with mental illnesses are commonly exhibited as being violent and/or aggressive, but are also frequently depicted as eccentrics, seductresses (in the case of women), self-obsessives, objects for scientific observation, simpletons and/or failures. One or more of these such labels can be applied to the characters examined in both The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Holy
My friend shows patterns of behavior of someone that has a borderline personality disorder. First and for most she is the type of girl that can never be single. She always needs the love and affection of a boy in her life. Although, she tends to be involved in long-term relationships she breaks up and makes up with her significant other more than once in a given year. She has stated in many occasions that she does not like being alone, in other words doesn’t like the feeling of emptiness. In addition, she stresses over the smallest things in her relationship. She appears to be very clingy with her boyfriend and can’t do anything without him. If I were to invite her out for a girl’s night she would ask if her boyfriend could come along. If he
Most people gather what they know about mental illnesses from television and film. Unfortunately these media portrayals are inaccurate and create stigma. They depict people suffering from mental illnesses as different, dangerous and laughable. Characters are often addicted to drugs or alcohol, are violent, dangerous, or out of control. Horror film characters like Norman Bates in Psycho, Jack Torrance in the Shining, or Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs associate the typical 'psycho- killer' with people who suffer from a mental illness. But dramas and horror films are not the only film genres that create stigma. Comedies like What About Bob and many others not only stigmatize, they also make fun of mental illnesses and the people who suffer from them. This paper will discuss how the film Me, Myself & Irene is an inaccurate, offensive and stigmatizing portrayal of an individual suffering from schizophrenia. It also discusses what can be done to counteract the stigma created by these types of films.
Instead, the film cherry-picks frightening or exaggerated elements of a spectrum of disorders, including schizophrenia, delusional disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This makes Laeddis an embodiment of a combination of the most frightening psychological disorders. While there are certain aspects of Laeddis’ psychosis that are accurate in terms of an individual disorder, these elements do not add up to a realistic portrayal of mental illness. This combination of fact and fiction also extends to the film’s treatment of institutionalization, psychological therapy, and the connection between violence and mental illness. The exaggerations and distortions of Shutter Island serve one purpose, they entertain the audience. However, this type of entertainment often comes at the cost of perpetuating the negative stigma and misinformation that surrounds mental illness in modern society. While the film may entertain audiences with its dramatic twists and turns, Shutter Island is a part of a trend of inaccuracies and exaggeration of mental illness in modern
Adolescence: a transition from children to adults, a time that we learn about ourselves, develop a sense of self and gain control of our emotions. However, individuals that are not able to associate with their feelings and build their self-esteem can be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder is a mental illness that can be found in a number of adolescents and they are more likely to suffer from unstable identity, instability of emotions and fear of abandonment than adolescents without BPD. Also, it affects other aspect of individual 's life such as relationships with others, and decision making because of their impulsiveness and instability. However, BPD is a treatable psychological disorder, through
Tasca, Cecilia , Mariangela Rapetti, Mauro Giovanni Carta, and Bianca Fadda. "Women and Hysteria In The History of Mental Health." U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. N.p., 1 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. .